Golden Knights in scoring rut, ‘need a little more’ from depth players

The Golden Knights are asking players lower in their lineup to contribute more with injuries piling up.

It hasn’t happened yet.

The Knights wrap up a six-game homestand Thursday against the New York Islanders. To say it’s been a disappointing 1-3-1 stretch is putting it mildly. Each loss has been a one-goal game at some point in the third period.

The Knights have been outscored 17-11 their past five games. Their lone win in that span was a 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Only four forwards have three or more points since the homestand started Oct. 31: right wing Mitch Marner (seven), left wing Ivan Barbashev (six) and centers Jack Eichel (three) and Tomas Hertl (three).

Defensemen Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin have two points each.

The 14 other skaters the Knights have used have combined for eight points.

“In these one-goal games, you need it from somebody,” coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday after the team’s 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. “The other guys, it’s 15 games now, so yes. We need a little more from them.”

Who can step up?

The Knights (7-4-4) have been in an offensive rut since captain Mark Stone sustained a wrist injury Oct. 18. Stone hasn’t played since.

He isn’t the only key player the team is missing.

Center William Karlsson sat out the loss to the Panthers with a lower-body injury and didn’t practice Wednesday.

Other players aren’t stepping up to fill the scoring void for the Knights.

Left wing Reilly Smith has one goal this season, an overtime winner he scored after San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic misplayed the puck in the offensive zone and was caught out of position. Left wing Brandon Saad, right wing Keegan Kolesar and center Colton Sissons have none.

Saad and Kolesar have two assists each, while Sissons has one.

“Sometimes with your full lineup you can have these stretches and you get away with it,” Cassidy said. “But right now, with guys out, we need a little more from certain areas.”

The Knights’ talented blue line has also been quiet. Defenseman Kaedan Korczak has two goals, but no one else has scored from the back end.

Help from the back end

Hanifin, who returned Nov. 4 after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury, has provided a boost with two assists in his past three games.

“I think we’re kind of forcing things a little bit,” Hanifin said. “We’re not reading the play.”

Theodore, despite getting an opportunity on the first power-play unit with Stone out, has two assists on the man advantage and six total this season. The Knights’ power play as a whole has slumped in recent weeks, going 3-for-29 since Oct. 20.

Hanifin said the Knights showed last year they can be a great rush team. He believes they need to get back to that. He said for the defensemen, it starts with getting out of their zone clean.

“I think when you’re playing (high-pressure) teams like (the Ducks and Panthers), you tend to not take as much time as you may have in front of you as a D corps and I think when we do that, and we’re clean coming out of our zone, I think that’ll set up the rest of our game,” Hanifin said. “Everything will come from coming out of our zone clean.”

Knights recall Bowman

The Knights, perhaps in an attempt to find secondary scoring, recalled left wing Braeden Bowman from the Silver Knights on Wednesday.

Bowman, who has yet to make his NHL debut, has 12 points in 12 games with Henderson, tied for the most on the team. The Silver Knights (7-4-1) are off to the best start in team history.

The Golden Knights have road games against the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, so Bowman could give them an extra body for the trip.

Cassidy was not at practice Wednesday due to a scheduled absence, according to a team spokesperson, so he could not provide an update on Karlsson. Assistant coach John Stevens ran the workout in Cassidy’s stead.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.